WASHINGTON — Iceland is on its way to "eliminate" people with Down syndrome, a
report from CBS News explained, causing uproar in the pro-life community over
the high numbers of abortions following prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

JERUSALEM — With tensions still high in the Old City
following weeks of violence, Father Firas Aridah completed his work at the
Latin Patriarchate early so he could leave Jerusalem for his West Bank parish
before any possible violence began.

WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of a chaos- and hate-filled
weekend in Virginia, Catholic bishops and groups throughout the nation called
for peace after three people died and several others were injured following clashes
between pacifists, protesters and white supremacists in Charlottesville,
Virginia, Aug. 11 and 12.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In the aftermath of a chaos- and hate-filled weekend
in Virginia, Catholic bishops and groups throughout the nation called
for peace after three people died and others were injured following
clashes between pacifists, protesters and white supremacists in
Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug. 11 and 12.

WASHINGTON — Diplomacy and political engagement are necessary to resolve the
differences between the United States and North Korea and avoid a military
conflict, the chairman of a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committee said
in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

AMMAN, Jordan — It's
taken three years for Iraqi Christians to return home after fleeing threats of
death and forced conversion to Islam, but they are starting to rebuild their
homes and lives in their ancestral towns, said Catholic aid groups.

WASHINGTON
—The Smithsonian National Museum of American History's new exhibition,
"Religion in Early America," celebrates the free exercise of religion and the
religious diversity that define American faith life.

WASHINGTON — In her last year of high school, concerned
about the uncertain future that awaited her as a youth without legal
documentation to be in the country, 17-year-old Claudia Quinones took her
worries to her Maryland parish.

"I was feeling very hopeless. I prayed a lot that day and I
was asking God with all my heart to have some type of immigration relief. A few
weeks later, DACA was announced," recalled Quinones, now a college student in her 20s at a
university in the Washington metropolitan area, referring to the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals program.

PHOENIX — The Knights of Columbus, long associated
with swords, capes and chapeaus, will be going through a significant uniform
change.

The
traditional regalia worn by fourth-degree Knights will be
replaced, announced Supreme Knight Carl Anderson Aug. 1 during the
international fraternal organization's 135th annual Supreme Convention
in St. Louis, which was livestreamed on EWTN.

WASHINGTON — Calling a proposed piece of legislation "discriminatory,"
the head of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration called on the president and Congress
to reject a bill that seeks to drastically cut legal immigration levels over a
decade, and which also would greatly limit the ability of citizens and legal
residents to bring family into the U.S.

WASHINGTON — After the Senate Republicans failed to get enough votes
to pass a "skinny" repeal to remove parts of the Affordable Care Act in
the early hours of July 28, a U.S. bishop said the "task of reforming
the health care system still remains."

The nation's system under
the Affordable Care Act "is not financially sustainable" and "lacks full
Hyde protections and conscience rights," said Bishop Frank J. Dewane of
Venice, Florida, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops'
Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

VATICAN CITY — As the U.S. president's personal envoy to the Vatican,
the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See has a unique role in building a
bridge between the political center of the United States and the
religious-spiritual center of the universal Catholic Church in Rome.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis' decree to beatify two Colombian martyrs from two troubled eras in the South American country's history underscores his call for courageous witness amid violence and persecution.

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators must reject any bill that would replace the Affordable Care Act unless such a measure "protects poor and vulnerable people, including immigrants, safeguards the unborn and supports conscience rights," said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee.

WASHINGTON — After efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed late July 17 in the U.S. Senate, Catholic health care leaders said they hope Congress will work together, in small steps, to fix flaws in the current legislation.

SEOUL, South Korea — The president of the Korean bishops' conference has welcomed President Moon Jae-in's peace initiative, saying it matches the church's views on how peace can be achieved on the peninsula.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has initiated the Social Capital Project, a research effort that examines the importance of "associational life," which includes families, religious congregations and other communities.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Republicans' latest effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act is "unacceptable" and shows little improvement over the lawmakers' first attempt to reform the federal health care law, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee.

MANCHESTER, England — Western governments are "spitting in the face" of African democracy by trying to impose legal abortion against the wishes of most of the people in such countries, said a Nigerian-born pro-life campaigner.

TORONTO — Canada's major churches, the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International Canada are taking the federal government to court, hoping to strike down a 13-year-old agreement between the United States and Canada on treatment of refugees.

VATICAN CITY — World leaders attending the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, must reflect on the repercussions their decisions may have on the entire global community and not just their own countries, Pope Francis said.

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian bishops' conference has denounced a speech by the nation's foreign minister as "erroneous, confusing and misguided" for suggesting that sexual reproductive rights have become a cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy.

ORLANDO, Fla. — For some it was about keeping young people in the church. Others wanted to hear about diocesan ministries in another locale and perhaps bring an idea home. A few more were glad they could be heard by a bishop or two.

WASHINGTON — Agencies and organizations that help refugees start new lives in the U.S. worry about the fate that awaits migrants in transit as well as those who will not be allowed into the country as the partial ban that the U.S. Supreme Court set in motion with its late June ruling goes into effect in early July.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl urged participants at the "Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of The Gospel in America" to take a look at each other in the hotel ballroom and realize that they, as lay leaders in the church, are responsible for spreading the Gospel message and they shouldn't waste the moment.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Catholic leaders attending the opening Mass of the "Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of The Gospel in America" were urged to reflect joy -- a sign of God's presence -- and not exclusively focus on the world's problems.